Improvement in box-openers



JAM Es w. HAN K ENsoN Improvement in Box-Openers.

Patented May 28,1872.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. HANKENSON, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

- IMPROVEMENT IN BOX-OPENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 127,342, dated May 28,1872.

I, JAMES W. HANKENSON, of Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin, in theState of Minnesota, have made certain Improvements in Box-Openers, ofwhich the following is a specification The object of this invention isto produce an improved implement for opening and handling packing-boxes5 and it` consists in the con- Y struction and arrangement of the partsthat is serrated or roughened on its upper side, asl

seen at a', and has a slit or cleft, a, made centrally in the sharp end,which forms a claw for drawing nails, and forms a wedge in shape bybeing thicker as the distance is extended from the sharp edge; or, ifmade of metal, it has the same shape and conditions without the metalplate a. B is a curved arm hinged to lever or bar A, and has a sharpedge, b, of metal at its extreme outer end, which makes it adjustable asto distance from the point of bar A.

i By this construction, when used as a boxopener the thin edge of bar Awill easily e11- ter the joint between the body of the box and itscover, and the sharp edge of curved arm B is held firmly against theside of the box, and, as the lever or bar A is forced down, the edge ofarm B is forced into the wood, and arm B becomes a fulcrum, by which thecover is raised from box D, as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 2; and, asthe edge of the lever is forced further in between the cover and thebody of the box, the point of the arm B may be adjusted higher on theside of the box, and consequently the lever will raise the cover higher,

while the roughened upper side of the bar will sharp metal projections,b b', placed on the inf ner curved side and toward the forward end ofbar A, and at such an angle that they will embrace and take hold of acorner of a box, or will enter into and take hold of the side of the boxwhen the implement is used as a cant-hook to turn over or around suchboxes as mayV need this kind of movement. *At the extreme outer end ofthe curved arm B is a sharp edge, with a slit, b, centrally cut therein,and by which it becomes useful for pulling small nails or tacks whenrequired, and is also of use in removing cards or tags that arefrequently nailed upon the lids or tops of boxes.

This construction makes it useful both as a box-opener and box-handler,and will be desirable in all establishments where boxes are to be openedand handled.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent isrlzhe implement herein described, having thestraight side a, serrated or Toughened at af, the opposite side inclinedand terminating in a sharp edge, a-nd cleft to form claws for pullingnails, the adjustable fulcrum-arm B having point b, and sharpprojections b and b', in the manner and for the purpose set fbrth.

JAMES W. HANKENSON.

Witnesses BENJA. F. KINGMAN, (Enns. H. Woons.

